French and Riviera News Friday 9th February 2018

French Riviera local news

Local

Missing Person - Police in Brignoles have appealed for information concerning the disappearance of a 39 year old hiker missing since Tuesday. The mother of two from Nans les Pins was last seen setting out on a hike on the massif of Sainte Baume in the Var. Described as being of slight build with long brown hair and blue eyes she was at the time wearing a white jacket, a sleeveless grey top, jeans and hiking boots. Anyone who can provide information is invited to contact the police on 04.94.78.00.12

Fire in an apartment in Grasse - One person is in a critical condition and two others have been seriously injured after a fire broke out in an apartment in the city centre of Grasse. Traffic was diverted as firefighters intervened on Thursday night. The cause of the blaze is still to be determined.

Police - An additional 15 to 30 police officers are to be deployed in Nice on a daily basis. The new measure announced on Thursday by the French Interior Minister Gérard Collomb was part of French President Emmanuel Macron’s election campaign. The aim is to improve relations between police and residents in sensitive areas of some of France’s main cities. The measure will apply to both L’Ariane and Les Moulins in Nice and is expected to be in place by January 2019.

Florist in Nice - A florist in Nice has created a new software bringing the profession into the digital age. The software “Evoluflor” automates all the operations of the florist’s production chain. It was launched in September last year and has been adopted by nearly 120 florists across France.

National

Snow - Parisians and those living around the capital have been warned to expect more travel disruption today, with further snow forecast to hit the region. The forecast has prompted police in Paris to warn drivers not to take their cars. According to the police department a new front heading in from the west will bring snow showers during the morning.

Salah Abdelslam - Defence lawyers for the Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdelslam have said that a Belgian court must acquit him over a shootout with police, because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French. Abdeslam, refused to attend court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges of being anti-Muslim. In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gun battle in Brussels in March 2016, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels. Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.

Decathlon - A manager from the French sports outlet Decathlon has called for calm on social media after the brand came under criticism from some customers complaining that its backpacks are sexist, with blue ones for boys and pink ones for girls. The incident dates back to last year when in defense to the critics Yann Amiry said "the bags are simply adapted to female and male morphologies, nothing more." Some users surprised by this response sent abusive posts which have since escalated, on Thursday Amiry tweeted that "nothing justifies such insults".

Business

European markets fell sharply on Thursday with shares in London down 1.5 percent,the Dax in Frankfurt off 2.6 percent and the CAC in Paris down by 2 percent.
The downward movement was later followed on Wall Street and the rout has continued in Asia this morning.
The prospect of higher interest rates fuelled by a spike in inflation and the end of cheap money has been spooking investors.
On Thursday,the Bank of England added to the fears after leaving interest rates on hold but warning that a strengthening economy meant that interest rates are likely to rise sooner than markets were expecting.
The US government budget proposals are also causing concern with Congress proposing an increase in spending caps which could in turn fan inflation.

US jobless claims have fallen to a 45 year low according to data from the Labor Department.
The news heightens expectations of faster wage growth this year which could cause more inflationary pressure.
The second straight weekly decline in the unemployment numbers also points to strong job growth momentum which is set to drive the jobless total lower still.
The labor market is nearing full employment with the jobless rate at a 17 year low of just 4.1 percent.

And-Japan’s ambassador to the UK has warned that Brexit is a “high stakes issue” and that no company would be able to stay in the country if it was not profitable.
Koji Tsuruoka was speaking outside 10 Downing Street following a meeting between the British Prime Minister Theresa May and 19 top business leaders from Japan.
He said that if there is no profitability in continuing operations in the UK then no private company can continue to operate.
Earlier,Mrs May told the business leaders that Brexit would allow the UK to strike a free trade deal with Japan.She said that the government’s industrial strategy made the country “more attractive”.

The second round of the 6 Nations Championship is being played this weekend.
The action starts in Dublin tomorrow with Ireland against Italy at 3.15 and that’s followed by the main attraction of the weekend,England against Wales at Twickenham which kicks off at 5.45 French time.
On Sunday Scotland host France at Murrayfield with a 4pm kickoff.

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The Winter Olympics opening ceremony takes place in Pyeongchang later this morning.
Over 17 days more than 3,000 of the world’s best athletes will be competing in 102 medal events in 15 sports.
The games look like they’re going to be the coldest on record with temperatures plunging to as low as -25 degrees Celsius.
77 percent of the tickets across 13 venues in South Korea have been sold and some events are already underway ahead of the opening ceremony.

Earlier this morning the Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected an appeal by 47 Russian athletes and coaches against a ban on participation at the Games.
The Russians had argued that they had been wrongfully excluded by the International Olympic Committee but the court rejected the appeal.

Meanwhile the Norway team has mistakenly ordered 15,000 eggs which should keep their protein levels up.
Norway team officials used Google Translate to order the eggs in Korean but either translation error or a typo resulted in the team being send 15,000 eggs instead of 1,500.

Football-In the English Premier League this weekend.
On Saturday Spurs play Arsenal.Everton host Crystal Palace.Stoke play Brighton.Swansea host Burnley.West Ham play Watford and Manchester City play Leicester.
On Sunday Huddersfield host Bournemouth.Newcastle play Manchester United and Southampton play Liverpool.Chelsea play West Brom on Monday.

Formula 1-McLaren say they think that they’ll make the biggest gains of any team this season.
McLaren have struggled badly since the introduction of the hybrid-turbo engines but a new partnership with Renault is giving them confidence.
Chief executive Zak Brown says that he’s eager to see how the new car performs and he’s confident that McLaren should be the team that sees the biggest difference in grid position this season.

Weather

Mainly fine with light,variable winds.

Top temperature 13 degrees.

Overnight lows of 6 degrees on the coast and -3 degrees inland with a sharp frost and clear skies.

The weekend.Sunshine and showers tomorrow morning then fine in the afternoon.Mainly fine on Sunday with with highs of 12-14 degrees.